Moon Township, Pa. – Max Palmer, a sophomore on the Robert Morris University men's golf team, earned postseason recognition from the Northeast Conference (NEC) for the second consecutive year as he represents the Colonials on the All-NEC First Team, as announced by the league in a press release this afternoon.
A native of Novi, Mich., Palmer captured the program's first NEC Rookie of the Year award a season ago while adding Second Team accolades. He collected All-Tournament Team plaudits following last week's NEC Championship and is RMU's seventh different player and first sophomore to gain First Team honors.
Palmer trimmed nearly a full stroke from his freshman average by coming in at a team-best 74.0, which is the fourth-best single-season stroke average in program history. He posted three top-five finishes, four top-10 performances, and five rounds at or below par, with a career-low round of three-under 68 coming in the Northern Kentucky Fall Collegiate Classic. The sophomore's career stroke average of 74.39 currently ranks second all-time at RMU, just 0.5 off Santiago Meija's (2013-15) 73.89 mark.
Palmer opened the season with a second-place effort at aforementioned NKU Fall Collegiate Classic, firing an even-par 213 over the three rounds. That performance helped him bring home Golfer of the Month honors from the NEC, an award he later doubled up on with the weekly version in April after the Coca-Cola Lehigh Valley Invitational. In the rain-shortened 36-hole event, Palmer carded a two-under 142 to finish in a three-way tie for first. The sophomore was the Colonials' top performer at the NEC Championships as he tied for third, posting a three-over 219. The third-place finish was RMU's highest at the even since C.G. Mercatoris won medalist honors in 2011.
This is the 10th consecutive season in which the Colonials have placed at least one player on either the First or Second Team.
Robert Morris placed second at last week's NEC Championships, its 10th straight finish on the top half of the league leaderboard. The Colonials are set to lose just two seniors to graduation.
